5 Tips for Effective Internal Communications

Effective internal communications is well-recognized as important for keeping employees informed about organizational logistics--i.e. new initiatives, upcoming events, policy changes, etc. But it is also critical for staff connection--with and among--through such efforts as welcoming new faces, celebrating successes, promoting different voices, and soliciting new views. 

This more human-focused objective ensures that your employees feel valued and heard. It helps to build team/company culture, securing greater engagement and greater investment among employees. And enthusiastic buy-in by employees means a more unified and amplified identity for your company, resulting in greater employee satisfaction, increased productivity, and a multiplied ambassadorship (bolstered external communications!) in the everyday actions of those employees. 

So how do you make sure internal communications is not just performing organizational functions but is also meeting the more individual needs of your employees?  

Below, I share 5 tips for ensuring effective internal communications.

1. Know your audience! … Identify the various stakeholders and stakeholder groups within your organization. And make sure you know more about them than their department names or job titles.
   
   Have an idea about who they are. If you do not personally know or work with someone in a given role or department, take the time to imagine a specific ‘character’ who would fit that role. What do they see and do on a daily basis? How does that impact the way the see and understand what’s happening in your company?
   
   Speak to that ‘character’ when designing your messaging. Employees need communications to be tailored, to their perspective if not to their individual personality.
   

2. Choose the right tools! … Knowing your audience also means knowing how best to reach them. But as technology advances and choices expand--from internal newsletters to intranets, instant messaging, community channels, blogs, video channels, social/collaboration tools--it can be harder and harder to know which ones are best for your company.
   
   Make sure that the tools you choose make access easy. Can they be accessed across a range of devices, from desktops to tablets to cell phones? Do they have built-in accessibility features that allow ease of use by all potential users?
   
   Ensure that the tools you choose allow for an easy exchange of dialogue, giving employees a way to connect with each other, even across groups or departments, and a way to have two-way conversation with leaders and organizational decision-makers.
   

3. Offer meaningful data! … Humans need to know why they are being asked to do something. We need a good story to compel us to change our mind or change our direction. Ensuring your data is relevant, transparent, and actionable will help to catalyze your employees to whatever new objectives are identified.
   
   Ensure surveys and feedback options are timely and target both those who chose to engage in an initiative and those who did not. If necessary, seek out direct input from those who didn’t participate.
   
   Don’t forget the story, whether oral or visual. A picture can be worth many words, so offer infographics or videos when possible. And while quantitative data is important, it again leaves out your most valuable resources, the people who make up your company or program. Ask for anecdotes and specific examples.
   

4. Invite collaboration! … No one of us can be everywhere at once or expert in everything. In order to be our best selves or our best organization, it is necessary to tap into the expertise and experience of those around us.
   
   Ask employees to contribute to internal communications. Invite them to share their own or their team’s projects or achievements.
   
   Increase engagement by showing a sincere desire to hear and recognize the various voices in your company. And don’t forget those sitting in the back of the class. Look for the voices who are missing and ask them how they could be enticed to share their story/view.
   

5. Revisit your strategy--again! … What is working today will not always have the same results tomorrow. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it will. Too much repetition can also breed boredom, if not always contempt.
   
   Conduct regular analysis of your internal communications strategy. Try new methods and mediums in response to waning participation. And go back to your employees to hear what would reinvigorate their enthusiasm for your company and their place in it.

Adopting these strategies among the keystones of your internal communications strategy will help to make sure that your employees are not only well-informed about your organization but are personally motivated towards its success!

For help on building and implementing the best internal communications strategy for your organization, either in its initial stages or as a tool of change management, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m currently available for consulting & contract engagements.